Apple crushed device activations this holiday season

Apple won the holidays

iPhone X demand may have been down in recent weeks but Apple still won the holiday season by a sizable margin according to data recently compiled by Flurry.

The analytics firm examined mobile device activations during the week leading up to Christmas Day and the end of Chanukah (December 19 through December 25). Data reveals that 44 percent of new phone and tablet activations were Apple-branded devices. Samsung finished in second place with 26 percent of the pie but after that, it wasn’t even close.

Chinese device maker Huawei accounted for five percent of mobile device activations during the week-long period while Xiaomi, Motorola, LG and Oppo captured just three percent each.

For comparison, Apple in 2016 also accounted for 44 percent of device activations leading up to Christmas. Samsung’s activation rate a year ago was just 21 percent. Clearly, the introduction of the Galaxy Note 8 earlier this year helped Samsung’s cause this holiday season.

The analytics firm also broke down the top 10 Apple smartphone device activations. As you can see, the iPhone 7, iPhone 6 and iPhone X were among the most activated devices this holiday season. It has to be a bit concerning for Apple that, of its three new models, only one made the top three.

Flurry highlights the fact that Google is once again absent from the list despite the fanfare around the launch of the Pixel 2. “It is safe to say that due to limited phone models (4) and lack of consumer mindshare, the Pixel is failing to pique users’ interest,” the firm notes.